It’s Christmas Eve, or as it is possibly known by those little ones who celebrate Christmas, the l-o-n-g-e-s-t day of the year. Forget the summer solstice, today is the day that feels longer than any other on the calendar while little ones watch the minutes and seconds drag by and anticipate the visit of the jolly fellow in red with something special. If you then add in the kids’ clock – an alternate measurement of time like when you hear “we’ve been in the car for an hour!” ten minutes into a trip – and it’s a very long day indeed. To help the day feel a little bit faster, here are ten quick crafts of Christmas the kids could do today.
Ten quick crafts of Christmas
1. Standing Paper Christmas trees
Fold a piece of paper in half, then in half again and cut along the unfolded edge in the shape of half a Christmas tree. When you unfold the paper you’ll have two matching Christmas trees – cut halfway down the centre of one, halfway up the centre of the other. Let your little one decorate, being careful not to go over the cut parts and when they’ve finished slip the two pieces together to make a standing Christmas tree like those pictured above.
2. Leaf trees
Collect leaves from your garden or street (maybe do a Roll Around the Block while you’re there!) and stick them on paper, then decorate.
3. Stained Glass Windows
Stick a piece of clear adhesive film down and decorate with cut up cellophane and sprinkles of glitter. Place another piece of clear adhesive film over the top and press to seal. Pop it up on a window and let the light shine in!
4. Angel bread
Not technically a craft, but who can resist making fairy bread – or since it’s Christmas, angel bread! For those outside Australia, this is simply white bread buttered and then drizzled with sprinkles. Have your little one use Christmas cookie cutters on the bread before buttering and sprinkling to make a sweet Christmasy treat!
5. Paper chains
An oldie but a goodie – cut strips of paper and have the little ones stick them together to make paper chains. Longest chain wins, right?
6. Popcorn chains
Another take on the paper chains which is great for older children is to make a popcorn chain using a needle and thread.
7. Glitter stamping
Another use for the Christmas cookie cutters is to give your little one a plate with glue they can dip them in, then stamp on to a piece of paper before sprinkling with glitter. They could also paint inside the cookie cutter with glue and sprinkle with glitter to make a solid picture.
8. Doily Christmas Trees
Fold a circle doily in half, then in half again and cut along the lines to make four Christmas trees. Stick these on a piece of paper and decorate.
9. Little angels
Decorate wooden ice cream sticks with glitter and paper wings to create little angels (the full tutorial for these is here)
10. Candy Cane Crush
Cut out candy canes using cardboard and have the little ones decorate by gluing on sequins and beads.
Happy Christmas Eve to all!